PUBLISHER’S MEMO

from Referee Magazine - October 2021

LAST CALL

Words Matter

What we say and how we say it matter. What we write and how those words are presented matter. At Referee we are relentless in our pursuit of proper style and word usage. The bar set by our editors makes me proud. I say that because using proper grammar and understanding nuances of words were not particularly strong suits of mine, that is until I met and married Jean. There have been so many benefits I have derived in our marriage I won’t be able to go into them all (hah!). But there is one I will go into.

In March 2020 I self-published a small book titled: Words Matter. The book measures just 4 and 3/4 inches by 8-1/2” and has 205 pages including a robust index. The story behind the creation of this book speaks volumes about why I like to use this space each month to entertain, inform and stir you the reader with specific words and word groupings. So, from the Introduction of Words Matter, here is the story.

This small book is the outgrowth of a unique set of circumstances in my life. I was kinda, sorta, matriculating at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wis., when I met a student named Jean Shepard. Jean was in a sorority, getting nothing but A’s in her classwork and on her way to becoming a teacher of French and Spanish. She also got a minor in English.

When we met, I had about worn out my welcome at the university, but they gave me one more bite of the apple. I took it and, with new wife Jean’s help, I was able to snatch a diploma from the system. Jean had begun her career as a high school teacher, rising through the ranks to become chair of the foreign language department at a large high school. It was during her tenure that she met Ella Gardina.

Ella, in her early 50s, had decided to drop out of the corporate world and become a teacher of foreign languages. She went back to school and when time came for her studentteaching regimen, Jean was given the assignment. From that moment on, for more than 40 years, Ella and Jean developed a special friendship. I came along for the ride.

Part of that journey had to do with Jean and Ella, both quite expert in the rules of English grammar, pointing out sweetly (I say bathetically), my janky understanding of proper grammar usage. The three of us would often grab a pizza or some Thai food after work and those conversations gave me an idea. Why not turn the tables?

With that simple concept in mind, so began the pre-dinner word quizzes proctored by me. I was the teacher and they were the students. On small yellow sheets of paper, I wrote down words that either had a similar meaning or words that sounded similar but had vastly different meanings. We would convene at the table, order our drinks and then out would come the tiny yellow sheet of paper. I would read the words aloud and then they, often with grimaces or frowns, would do their collective best to fashion an acceptable answer. Here’s an example of two similar-sounding words: Complacent means pleased and satisfied with the situation; Complaisant means wanting to fall in with the wishes of others.

Frankly Ella and Jean would be amazingly creative in conjuring up answers. They used their mastery of foreign languages to build on the core of the words on the table. When they finally gave me their answers, I then read them what I had on the yellow sheet. I would give them a grade (A through F) and do admit I was a damned hard grader. I had to get a little payback, don’t you agree?

As the dedication of the book notes, Ella died early in 2020 and our pre-dinner quizzes ended. By that time my little yellow sheets had become a stack numbering more than 450. Everlasting but not eternal. Good words to you.

Chief Strategy Offi cer/Publisher Barry Mano Chief Operating Offi cer/Executive Editor Bill Topp Chief Marketing Offi cer Jim Arehart Chief Business Development Offi cer Ken Koester Managing Editor Brent Killackey Assistant Managing Editor Julie Sternberg Senior Editor Jeffrey Stern Associate Editors Brad Tittrington Scott Tittrington Assistant Editor Luke Modrovsky Copy Editor Jean Mano Director of Design, Digital Media and Branding Ross Bray Publication Design Manager Matt Bowen Graphic Designer Dustin Brown Video Coordinator Mike Dougherty Interactive Media Developer Michael Kielas Director of Audience Development Dan Olson Comptroller Marylou Clayton Data Analyst/Fulfi llment Manager Judy Ball Account Manager Joe Jarosz Director of Administration and Sales Support Cory Ludwin Offi ce Administrator Garrett Randall Customer Service Support Specialists Michelle Murray Lisa Burchell

Editorial Contributors Jon Bible, Mark Bradley, George Demetriou, Alan Goldberger, Jerry Grunska, Judson Howard, Peter Jackel, Steven L. Tietz, Tim Sloan

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